Cologne
Carolina Erb has been working as a lawyer at McDermott Will & Schulte (after working for a Federal Ministry in Bonn and a Community Law Center in New Zealand) since 2020 and specializes in real estate law. She advises on all matters of commercial tenancy law, including asset management, and has already dealt with a large number of real estate transactions (asset and share deals, individual and portfolio transactions) and project developments. She also has particular expertise in the area of heritable building rights and neighborhood agreements.
- Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers™, „Ones to Watch“ in Germany: Real Estate, 2027
- Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Second State Exam
- Higher Regional Court of Cologne, First State Exam
- University of Cologne
- Germany
- German
- English
Hélène Adda
Paris
Hélène Adda focuses her practice on data protection, cybersecurity and information technology law.
Hélène advises clients in many business sectors, such as e-commerce, advertising, automotive, life sciences, as well as the voluntary sector.
In particular, she has advised a number of companies on the establishment and maintenance of their GDPR compliance program. Hélène has also conducted many data protection audits, regarding in particular the review of user experience on websites and mobile applications.
- The Best Lawyers in France, 2026
- The Legal 500 EMEA, Recommended, 2022-2025
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- Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- Paris
- English
- French
Lukas Deutzmann
Cologne
Düsseldorf
Lukas Deutzmann focuses his practice on employment law matters.
During his legal traineeship, Lukas gained experience working at the State Labor Law Court in Cologne and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. In addition to this, he also worked as a trainee lawyer and research assistant in the labor law department of a global law firm in Cologne. Between 2016 and 2018 Lukas was a research assistant to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Preis at the Institute for German and European Labor and Social Law at the University of Cologne.
- Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Second State Examination
- University of Cologne, First State Examination
- Germany
- German
- English
Sebastian Klein
Düsseldorf
Sebastian Klein focuses his practice on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.
Following his first state exam, Sebastian worked as assistant and legal clerk for several international law firms in New York, Shanghai and Düsseldorf with a focus on patent and corporate law as well as mergers and acquisitions. During this time, he gained particular experience in corporate reorganizations as well as employee participation law.
- Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Second State Exam, Business Administration
- University of Münster, First State Exam, 2010-2012
- University of Münster
- Germany
- German
- English
Michelle Leverkus
Düsseldorf
Michelle Leverkus specializes in advising institutional investors and project developers on commercial real estate transactions (asset and share deals, individual and portfolio transactions). In addition, she has in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of commercial tenancy law and the restructuring of commercial enterprises.
Before and during her legal clerkship, Michelle gained valuable experience in the areas of real estate law, M&A and corporate law at various international law firms, including McDermott Will & Emery, as well as a leading real estate company. She also worked for the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Dublin.
Michelle advised:
- Union Investment Real Estate on the Sale of FÜNF HÖFE in Munich
- SIGNA Group, inter alia, on the acquisition of various properties for the Munich Bahnhofsplatz project development as well as on various tenancy law issues
- Swiss Life AM in connection with the Cologneo project development
- national and international retail companies on restructuring projects (e.g. Douglas, GALERIA) and tenancy law issues (e.g. Nagel-Group, Foot Locker)
- Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Second State Examination
- University of Bayreuth, First State Examination
- Germany
- German
- English
Cecilia Choy, PhD
Silicon Valley
Cecilia Choy, PhD, focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation and transactional matters.
Prior to joining the Firm, Cecilia conducted research in the neurosurgery department at the City of Hope Cancer Center for her PhD. Her research focused on the interactions between the brain microenvironment and breast cancer cells that metastasized to the brain.
During law school, Cecilia obtained her patent registration number, completed an externship for the Central District of California’s Patent Pilot Program, and served as the UCI Law student representative for alumni relations.
- University of California, Irvine School of Law, JD
- Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, PhD
- University at Buffalo
- University of California, Los Angeles
- English
- Korean
Dr. Jan Lorenzen
Düsseldorf
Dr. Jan Lorenzen focuses his practice on restructuring, corporate and insolvency law.
Before joining McDermott as an associate, he worked as an assessor in McDermott’s Düsseldorf office and as a research associate for leading German law firms specializing in corporate, commercial and insolvency law.
Jan completed his legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, with stations at the German Embassy in Rwanda and the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance in Bangkok, Thailand. His doctoral thesis addresses questions of liability in German partnership law.
- Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Second State Examination
- University of Bonn, Dr. jur. (PhD)
- University of Bonn, First State Examination
- Germany
- German
- English
Lisa Feth, LLM
Düsseldorf
Lisa Feth focuses her practice on corporate law matters with a particular emphasis on Real Estate.
During her legal traineeship at the District Court of Heidelberg, Lisa spent time working at an international law firm in Frankfurt and Sydney. Before her LLM at the University of Cape Town she worked for a global law firm in Frankfurt.
- University of Cape Town, LLM (UCT), Second State Examination
- Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, First State Examination
- Heidelberg University
- Germany
- German
- English
Haley Bybee
New York – One Vanderbilt Avenue
Haley Bybee focuses her practice on estate planning for high net worth families and individuals. She also advises on premarital and post marital agreements, charitable planning, non-judicial and judicial options for updating and correcting irrevocable trusts, and probate matters.
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, New York Metro, 2021 to 2022
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, Texas, 2020
- Boston University School of Law, BA
- Barnard College
- New York
- Texas
Marisa Young
Chicago
Marisa Young focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and other general corporate matters. Marisa advises financial and strategic buyers, sellers and investors in connection with mergers, acquisitions, business formations, corporate restructurings and other complex business transactions.
While in law school, she served as a notes editor for the University of Illinois Law Review.
- The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Insurance Law, and Securities and Capital Markets Law, 2021-2025
- University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, JD, summa, cum laude,, Order of the Coif
- Rice University, BA, magna cum laude
- Illinois
